Contents

The
Murder

On the night of March 7, 1988, Peter Betz was found dead lying
face up on the kitchen floor of his custom home on the 300 block of
Camphill Road in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania. A
painter had discovered the body and called the Upper
Dublin Police Department. Police immediately suspected Peter
Betz’s son, Mitchell Betz (16), as the prime suspect. However,
Mitchell Betz was nowhere to be found. The autopsy showed that Betz
had been shot twice in the chest and once in the leg with a .357 Magnum. Ballistics
later proved that the gun used was the same gun Betz kept in the
master bedroom of his home.

Additionally, Upper Dublin Police found a black candle and blood
capsules amongst the belongings of Mitchell Betz as well as a
quarter in the driveway with an “odd pattern of small rocks
positioned around it”. It was conjectured that these items might be
associated with Satanism.
Former Upper Dublin Police Chief Raymond Polett said schoolmates of
Betz told police that he had been interested in Satanism. When they
searched Betz's room at the Perkiomen Boarding School in Pennsburg, police were looking for
"paraphernalia, books, writings, clothing pertaining to black
magic, Satanism, occult or witchcraft," and anything else that
might have pertained to the crime. No such materials were found,
however. Polett said that he did not believe Betz's fascination
with the occult extended beyond a "youthful curiosity."

Preliminary
Hearing

At the preliminary hearing in District Court,
Brian Forde (16), who was a friend of Mitchell Betz's, testified
that Betz had told him he was going to kill his father, take his
credit cards, and run away to California. Forde also testified that Betz
had confided to him on the afternoon of March 2, 1988, saying that
"I hate school. I hate home. I hate my father. I should kill him."
Forde said his friend repeated the statement later that evening,
adding, "I might use the gun.”

Deputy Sheriff Michael
Radford of Nash County, North Carolina, testified during the hearing that Betz had
admitted to shooting his father. During a conversation with Betz at
the Nash County Jail soon after he had been
captured, Betz said to him, "I am going to kill the curiosity. I am
wanted on a murder in Pennsylvania. I shot my father in
Pennsylvania with a .357 pistol.“ Another witness, Deputy Sheriff
Michael Radford of the Nash County Sheriff's Department, testified
that Betz had told him he killed his father. "At first they told me
they were just traveling," Radford said. "Then, he told me he was
wanted for questioning in connection with a homicide in Pennsylvania. I couldn't believe
it because they were two clean-cut young kids." Betz also
reportedly told Radford he was writing a book about his experiences
and would send him a copy.

Mitchell’s defense attorney, Barry Miller, attacked the
credibility of Radford’s story. He asked how it was possible that
Mitchell could have known he was wanted for murder when Mitchell
fled before Peter Betz’s body was discovered. Miller also implied
that “kill the curiosity” was more of an expression likely to be
used by the southern officer than by Mitchell. Additionally, Miller
asked Radford as to whether Mitchell’s claim to be writing a book
was actually a sarcastic response given after several hours of
stressful questioning.

As part of the plea bargain Mitchell requested that he be
allowed to address the court to explain some of the circumstance
involving the murder. It was understood that the details of the
sentencing were already determined and that Mitchell’s statement
would have no influence over the outcome. During a 40-minute
address to the court, Mitchell portrayed himself a victim of abuse
who tried desperately to please his father. He claimed that he shot
him in the heat of a dispute that included a threat that the
teenager "would tell people what you really are." "He grabbed me
and strangled me, almost to the point where I passed out," said
Betz. "He told me to get out and I did. I went upstairs to his
room. I grabbed the gun and ran back to the stairs where he was
coming up [...] and I shot him." Mitchell told the court that when
he fled he was of the belief that he had only injured his father.
He said that he was fleeing from his father, not from the law.
Later he added, “I'll dedicate my life in jail to education and
bettering myself." The story told by Mitchell of the night of the
murder closely matched the deposed statements of his schoolmate,
who could hear the struggle from Mitchell’s room. However, since
there was no trial, these statements were never subjected to
cross-examination.

Some relatives of the prominent Betz family were upset by the
manner in which Peter Betz was portrayed in Mitchell’s testimony
and had their own lawyer request that they be allowed to speak on
behalf of Peter Betz’s character. The judge agreed, but said he
would only allow one member of the family to take the stand. Marion
Betz Cornely of Flourtown, the elder Betz's sister, was
chosen to represent their interest in this matter. She said Peter
Betz was only guilty "of his inability to be a father." Cornely,
who at times had taken care of Mitchell Betz, said there had been
occasional "problems with his manipulation, his lying." She said
her brother "tried to do what he thought was right with Mitchell. I
believe that if Peter is guilty of anything, it was trying to make
him be accountable."

Aftermath

Mitchell Betz’s plea bargain agreement to serve his sentence in
Rockview was never honored. Instead he was classified to SCI Camp
Hill where he quickly earned his G.E.D. and began taking college
correspondence courses. All of his books and course work were
destroyed, however, in the 1989 Camp Hill prison riot, a major riot
lasting two days and causing twenty-three million dollars in
damage. In 1994 Mitchell was interviewed in prison by Glenn Curry
of the Ambler Gazette. Mitchell commented on the irony of being
denied the opportunity to serve his sentence in Rockview saying
that the authorities simply told him “Camp Hill is the safest place
you’ll ever be.” Curry reported that since the riots Mitchell
“earned his associate’s degree with a 4.0 average and most of the
credits he needs for a bachelor’s degree…learned computer skills
and tutored his fellow inmates.”

Asked about charges of Satanism, Mitchell expressed dismay.
“That charge was so unfair, not just to me, but to my friends. On
no real evidence the newspapers ran with the idea that I was
involved in Satanism. Of course, my friends would be considered
guilty by association. And what was the evidence against
me…Halloween blood capsules, a book on self-hypnosis, a quarter
found outside circled by pebbles, and one of my scented candles
that happened to be black. I just can’t imagine any ritual
involving quarters, fake blood, and the scent of black licorice
that might summon up the forces of darkness.”

Curry also questioned Mitchell about why he pled guilty and if
he wished that he had taken the case to trial instead. Mitchell
replied that he has always felt extremely guilty regardless of the
any mitigating circumstances. “If I could send a note back in a
bottle I’d say plead guilty. I needed to be punished. If I had been
let go at that time, the psychological damage would have been
greater than anything that has happened in prison.” Mitchell did
state that he regretted giving a statement after his guilty plea.
“Talking about my father in such a way was hurtful to other members
of his family. They suffered enough by losing him physically and
did not need to have me tarnish their image of him as well.” At the
time of the Curry interview Mitchell stated that he still had to
“wrestle with his feelings of guilt and confusion” mostly on his
own as he was able to only obtain minimal psychological counseling.
Mitchell expressed concern for his future stating, “My social
skills are poor…I don’t have the kind of hope for the future that I
did before.”

John Drew Betz, the grandfather of the murderer and father of
the murdered, died at age 72 during the trial. Both John Drew and
his son are interred in a family crypt at Holy Sepulcher Cemetery in Cheltenham Township, Pennsylvania. His wife
Claire is still a limited partner of the Phillies along with Bill
Giles, Double Play Inc., Tri-Play Associates, and David Montgomery.
She splits her time between the Main Line and Florida. John Drew Betz’s initial Phillies
investment of $9.3 million dollars in 1980 is worth $150 million today.